Sunday, March 12, 2017

OSR Picks for the GM's Day Sale, Part VIII - Last Two Days Countdown

Yep, there's less than three days left to the RPGNow GM's Day Sale. And yes, there's more OSR picks to be had :)This post is Part VI. Part I , Part II , Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI and Part VII are linked. Remember, 5% of your purchase goes to support The Tavern and associated costs for projects like Swords & Wizardry Light and the upcoming Torchlight Zine.

Ghost Ship of the Desert Dunes - Every adventure published by +Jeff Talanian / North Wind Adventures is excellent or better. Grab one or grab them all, you can't go wrong - "Somewhere in the depths of Diamond Desert lie the skeletal remains of Ymir’s Serpent, a legendary Viking longship. In days of yore, Sigtrygg Forkbeard led his company upriver, piercing the desert’s hostile heart. There the Vikings unearthed a lost mine brimming with green diamonds, but the River Æolus desiccated as the Serpent prepared for launch, and the ship was swallowed by the dunes. Forkbeard and his company were never seen again, but tales of a shimmering Viking ghost ship gliding over the dunes persist to this day. Ghost Ship of the Desert Dunes takes players into an action-packed realm of adventure: the mythical world of Hyperborea, a sword-and-sorcery campaign setting inspired by the fantastic fiction of Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and others. This adventure is designed for Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea™ (AS&SH™), a role-playing game descended from the original 1974 fantasy wargame and miniatures campaign rules as conceived by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. Therefore, AS&SH is compatible with most traditional fantasy role-playing games (c. 1974 to 1999) and their modern simulacra, such as OSRIC™ and Swords & Wizardry™." $10.00 $7.00

Fantasy Stock Art: Dungeon Scenes +Denis McCarthy- I'm a huge buyer of stock art. I figure when I need it its best to already have it and I love grabbing it on sale. I have everything Denis has to offer :) - "Fantasy Stock Art: Dungeon Scenes is a collection of stock art images for use in your personal or commercial role-playing game product, subject to the terms of the license agreement included within these materials. This zip file contains seven fantasy illustrations, which you may crop, color or rearrange as you see fit. Also included is a text-free version of the cover image, which may be used as stock art. All images are presented in 300 dpi resolution. All images are presented in .jpeg format as well as .tiff images with a preserved transparency." $1.99 $1.39

Castle Gargantua - A mega dungeon? A mega dungeon toolkit? Two great tastes in one candy bar? Its a bit random, so it may not fit everyones tastes, but the price is right (and Print plus PDF is only 10 bucks) - Ride the beanstalk and crawl into the sprawling halls of Castle Gargantua. There awaits the most legendary of giants and the fiercest creatures known to man. Delve further than ever for the great doors of Castle Gargantua have swung open once again, and what lies ahead isn't for the faint-hearted. The biggest dungeon ever published by the OSR. A campaign, a massive generator, and a grotesque setting all-in-one. A bookmarked PDF & print edition compatible with everything Old School Renaissance With DYSON LOGOS & JEREMY HART “It's not about killing monsters, looting treasure, and gaining experience as you delve deeper into some mad archmage's architectural folly. It's about surviving in a loathsome, terrifying environment where nothing is quite as expected. It's about atmosphere, gloom, and despair. It's a thriller.”$6.90 $5.00DCC Lankhmar: Patrons of Lankhmar - I really enjoy the Lankmar setting and I'm looking forward to what else Goodman Games does with it in the future. Damn, now I want to dig out my old AD&D Lankmar book - "Authorized by the estate of Fritz Leiber! From beneath the Outer Ocean, from out of the depths of the Great Salt Marsh, and from the odd fanes of the Street of the Gods, they come: the Patrons of Lankhmar! With the information contained in this tome, a judge can introduce such formidable beings as the Sea King, Mog the Spider God, Sheelba of the Eyeless Face, and even Death himself into any DCC RPG campaign setting. This early look at the upcoming Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar line introduces a half-dozen supernatural powers and eerie entities for use in your DCC RPG or Lankhmar campaign. Each power’s entry includes details on the entity and their role in Nehwon, tables for invoking that power’s aid, corruption charts for when things go wrong, and new spellburn possibilities. Are you ready to serve the Patrons of Lankhmar? Look for future releases further exploring the tales of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, the creations of world-renowned author Fritz Leiber, and eventually a complete boxed set." $7.99 $5.59

Nod 29 - This is NOD 29. There is nothing else quite like it but other issues of NOD. Nod is great. Seriously. Grab an issues and you'll be hooked. - "The second issue of NOD in 2016 features the second half of the Trollheim hex crawl, and then delves into modern and sci-fi supplements for Grit & Vigor, including Tony Tucker's Luchador class, the final part of Luke DeGraw's d20 Mecha rules, the fabulous Lovecraftian Hyperspace setting by Aaron Siddall and a quick and easy rpg that pits Luchadores vs. the Aztec Mummy. Plus: A random class generator, coins for more interesting hoards, the Laser Mage and a couple odd bits for Space Princess." -$4.99 $3.49

Weird Adventures - Pulp. Fantasy. OSR. Setting. Mix it all together and what you get is Weird Adventures - Welcome to the City... The streets are mean--and what lurks beneath them is even meaner. Only the most hard-boiled adventurers make it in this town. You think you got what it takes? Grab your gun or grimoire and find out. Weird Adventures is a setting where traditional rpg fantasy meets the Pulp era. It's a world where hobogoblins hop trains, gargoyles nest on art deco skyscrapers, and celebrity sorcerers hawk cigarettes on the radio. Weird Adventures includes: A guide to the City, greatest metropolis in the world, including its five baronies, numerous neighborhoods, and points of interest to adventurers. An overview of the Strange New World beyond the City, including the mysterious jungles of Asciana, the zombie-haunted streets of Cujiatepec, and the hidden moonshine stills of the hill-billy giants in the Smaragdines. Thirty new monsters from the Black Blizzard to the Skunk-Ape. $10.00 $7.00

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Why "Swords & Wizardry?"

Believe me when I say I have them all in dead tree format. I have OSRIC in full size, trade paperback and the Player's Guide. I have LL and the AEC (and somewhere OEC, but I can't find it at the moment). Obviously I have Basic Fantasy RPG. Actually, I have the whole available line in print. Way too much Castles & Crusades. We all know my love for the DCC RPG. I even have Dark Dungeons in print, the Delving Deeper boxed set, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea (thank you Kickstarter) (edit) BOTH editions of LotFP's Weird Fantasy and will soon have some dead tree copies of the Greyhawk Grognards Adventures Dark & Deep shipping shortly in my grubby hands awaiting a review..

I am so deep in the OSR when I come up for breath it's for the OSR's cousin, Tunnels & Trolls (and still waiting on dT&T to ship).

So, out of all that, why Swords & Wizardry? Why, when I have been running a AD&D 1e / OSRIC campaign in Rappan Athuk am I using Swords & Wizardry and it's variant, Crypts & Things, for the second campaign? (Actually, now running a S&W Complete campaign, soon to be with multiple groups)

Because the shit works.

It's easy for lapsed gamers to pick up and feel like they haven't lost a step. I can house rule it and it doesn't break. It plays so close to the AD&D of my youth and college years (S&W Complete especially) that it continually surprises me. Just much less rules hopping than I remember. (my God but I can run it nearly without the book)

I grab and pick and steal from just about all OSR and Original resources. They seem to fit into S&W with little fuss. It may be the same with LL and the rest, but for me the ease of use fit's my expectations with S&W.

Even the single saving throw. That took me longer to adjust to, but even that seems like a natural to me now. Don't ask me why, it just does. Maybe it's the simplicity of it. At 45 48, simplicity and flexibility while remaining true to the feel of the original is an OSR hat trick for me ;)

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